Diabetes is a serious condition that can have a major impact on the body. It can affect many major organs, such as the heart, eyes, kidneys and brain. When diabetes is not well controlled, it can cause many serious comorbidities, which are conditions that occur together with diabetes. For people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, finding a treatment plan that works is vital to avoid these problems.
The heart is part of the cardiovascular or circulatory system. This body system also includes blood vessels, which carry oxygen and nutrients to organs and tissues. Blood vessels also help eliminate carbon dioxide, toxins, and waste. The American Heart Association lists diabetes as one of the seven major controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
CVDs include all types of heart disease, stroke, and blood vessel disease. Over time, diabetes can also damage the blood vessels and nerves that control the heart. The longer you have diabetes, the greater your chances of developing heart disease. The kidneys work like a filtration system.
They remove waste, excess fluid and acid from the body. Healthy kidneys help maintain a good balance of water, salts and minerals in the blood. The kidneys also produce vitamin D and erythropoietin. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and promotes a healthy immune system.
Erythropoietin is a hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells. Over time, high blood sugar levels caused by diabetes can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys. This can affect your ability to cleanse your body and cause waste and fluids to build up in your blood. This type of kidney disease is known as diabetic nephropathy.
Studies have shown that people with diabetes have lower levels of density and volume of gray matter in various parts of the brain. Gray matter is an important part of the central nervous system. It plays a role in everyday functioning. Reducing the density or volume of gray matter can affect a variety of brain and nerve functions.
Diabetes can also damage small blood vessels in the brain. This can lead to strokes or the death of brain tissue. Some studies suggest that medications that treat low blood sugar levels may contribute to lung disease in people with diabetes. One discovered that different medications can affect the lungs in different ways.
For example, the common diabetes drug Glucophage (metformin) is thought to work against lung diseases, while insulin may worsen lung disease. Type 1 diabetes is caused by this lack of insulin production. Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, occurs when the body develops resistance to insulin. This puts pressure on the pancreas as it tries to produce more insulin than it normally needs.
When you have uncontrolled diabetes, you are at greater risk for several health problems. These problems can affect major organs and organ systems, such as the heart and blood vessels, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, digestive system, and brain. Uncontrolled blood sugar can also affect the mouth and teeth, eyes, skin, and sexual organs. It's important to note that diabetes can put you at risk for potentially life-threatening conditions, such as heart disease, pancreatic cancer, and kidney failure.
Diabetes affects the heart and the entire circulation. This includes the small blood vessels in the kidneys, eyes and nerves, and the large ones that feed the heart and brain and keep it alive. Effects of type 2 diabetes mellitus on body organs include non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NFALD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), endoplasmic reticulum (ER), digestive system, skin, sexual organs, teeth and gums, immune system, mucosal barriers such as intestinal epithelial cells (IEC), pancreas beta cells, liver and skeletal muscles which become dysfunctional due to inflammation caused by hyperglycemia or high blood sugar levels resulting from insulin resistance (IR). Virtually all parts of the human digestive system are affected by diabetes including gastrointestinal tract, pancreas and liver due to inflammation caused by hyperglycemia which impairs normal functions of circulatory system resulting in micro-and macroangiopathies leading to reduced amounts of specific antibodies against Staphylococcus aureus (both total and IgG) increasing risk of infection and morbidity in diabetic mice due to impaired ability of dysfunctional glycosylated antibodies to neutralize viruses making them more susceptible to infections.
Obesity as main inducer of low-level systemic inflammation is one of main factors of susceptibility to type 2 diabetes which also impairs immune system increasing patients' susceptibility to serious long-term infections.
